Hold on! Don’t get discouraged.

Have you ever held a promise from God in your heart but have yet to hold it in your hand? I have. What do I do while waiting for that promise to come to pass?

Luke 18:1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to teach them that they should always pray and never become discouraged.

I love the story of Elijah who called down fire from heaven to triumph over the prophets of Baal.

But God did not promise Elijah that He would send fire. What He had promised him was rain but that was the one thing that didn’t happen!

So Elijah put his head between his knees and he called on God and he prayed. He then sent his servant to see what was happening but there was nothing.
Isn’t it interesting that there are some things that God promises that don’t come to pass…. until you pray. Aren’t you glad that the Bible gives the full account of what happened? I’m glad that it didn’t say ‘He prayed and immediately it rained’. As a pray-er this really helps me. He prayed and nothing happened! So he prayed again…and again…and again.

You can derive encouragement from this; I do! Anything that God has promised needs someone to hold on to that promise. A promise without prayer has no purpose at all. Prayer, on the other hand, without a promise has no grounding and there will be no fruit to whatever you pray.

God’s promises have been put in the Word for the purpose of holding fast to them, and we do this primarily in the way of prayer. Promises are prayer tools. For example, God gave Elijah a promise, and this man would never ever let go of the promise until he saw the answer. He didn’t even need a huge indication; He only needed a cloud the size of a man’s hand. You too, never ever let go of it because if God promised it, it will surely come to pass.